Ital, Culture Clubs

[Lovers Rock]


Buy Vinyl
Buy MP3s

Since the formation of his regular band Mi Ami, Daniel Martin-McCormick has been half-threatening to make “tropical” dance music. Although his projects have featured steel drums and unusual time signatures before, none have really made good on the promise of name-checking both Omar-S and the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog. Culture Clubs, Martin-McCormick’s second solo 12″ as Ital and first for his own Lovers Rock imprint, realizes the potential behind those influences.

The highlight here is the clipped, primitivist title track. A nearly nine-minute workout, its rhythm is a relentless, swinging tap undercut by booming bass drums. Martin-McCormick uses this loose framework to drop an arsenal of distended synth patterns on top. Heavy on pitch and portamento control, they never sit still, and their elongated climbs and dives ensure a thoroughly vertiginous, heat-suffused atmosphere. “Eternally Yours” has the same elastic, uncompressed feel as its predecessor, as well as a similarly droopy synth patch which keeps the mood drowsy. It’s much slower and choppier, however, and its groove is infused with vocal snips and stop-start dynamics. Hieroglyphic Being’s “No Culture” remix of “Culture Clubs” effectively scrambles the original. It’s a drastic rework, as only faint bits of Martin-McCormick’s original can be heard. Most of its elements melt into one another above circular, tripping percussion and squalls of steel drums with the resonance knob way up. More than sounding specifically like tropical music, Culture Clubs channels equatorial mugginess for its own purposes and the results are extremely engrossing.

Trackbacks

Little White Earbuds July Charts 2011 – Little White Earbuds  on August 6, 2011 at 12:32 PM

[…] Room)” [Self-Released] 03. Afrikan Sciences, “Entitlement” [Deepblak] 04. Ital, “Culture Clubs” [Lovers Rock] 05. Hype Williams, “Rise Up” [Hyperdub] 06. Laurel Halo, “Hour […]

Little White Earbuds August Charts 2011 | Little White Earbuds  on September 2, 2011 at 10:03 AM

[…] 04. Mike Parker, “A2″ [Aquaplano Ltd] 05. XDB, “Wentap” [Harbour City] 06. Ital, “Culture Clubs” (Hieroglyphic Being Remix) [Lover's Rock] 07. Donato Dozzy, “Giusy” [Time To Express] 08. Tin Man, “Love […]

Ital, Only For Tonight – Little White Earbuds  on October 26, 2020 at 4:31 PM

[…] is Ital’s third solo 12″ and at this point we’ve covered them all. Rare is a newcomer who is on such a serious roll, but Daniel Martin-McCormick is, of course, […]

Popular posts in review

  • None found